Happy’s Tech Talk #40: Factors in PTH Reliability—Hole Voids
Facing the Future: Time for Real Talk, Early and Often, Between Design and Fabrication
Trouble in Your Tank: Can You Drill the Perfect Hole?
Nihon Superior’s Keith Sweatman Wins a Coveted SMTA International Best Paper Award
November 13, 2023 | Nihon Superior Co. LtdEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Nihon Superior Co. Ltd., a supplier of advanced joining materials, proudly announces that their Senior Technical Advisor, Keith Sweatman, has been honored with a coveted SMTA International Best Paper Award. This prestigious award was presented during the SMTA International 2023 Recognition Dinner, where Keith Sweatman was acknowledged as one of the four speakers who presented papers at the 2022 conference that were judged by their peers as the best in their respective categories.
Keith Sweatman's award-winning paper, titled "The Effect of Strain Rate on the Ductility of Bismuth-Containing Solders," may seem to be remote from the day-to-day realities of electronics manufacturing. However, it has been acknowledged as making a significant contribution to an issue that is presenting a challenge comparable with that which the industry had to face two decades ago when, driven by the EU RoHS Directive, it had to move to lead-free solders.
Sweatman's paper provides an insight into one of the challenge the electronics manufacturing industry faces as it struggles to respond to the need to reduce the temperature required for soldering processes; the tendency of low temperature solder alloys containing bismuth to brittle failure. He reported the results of a study in which it was found that in tensile testing at a low strain rate even alloys with a high bismuth content could exhibit considerable ductility because of a change in the way the bismuth phase responds to stress. These findings provide a basis for the development solder alloys that will make it possible for the electronics manufacturing industry to move to low temperature soldering without compromising reliability.
The work reported was conducted by a team of researchers working under the guidance of Professor Kazuhiro Nogita at the Nihon Superior Centre for the Manufacture of Electronic Materials, located on the University of Queensland campus in Australia.
Share on:
Suggested Items
I-Connect007 Observes U.S. Independence Day Holiday
07/04/2025 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007Today marks the 248th anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. Known widely in the U.S. as Independence Day or “The Fourth of July,” this day also commemorates the declaration by the Congress that the American colonies are free and independent states.
MRSI Systems, LLC Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Suzhou LieQi in China
06/16/2025 | MRSI Systems, LLCMRSI Systems, LLC (a part of Mycronic Group), a global high-tech company that provides high precision production solution in electronics industry, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Suzhou LieQi Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (SZLQ) with Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court for infringement of MRSI Systems’ patent related to die bonder (Case No. (2025) YUE03minchu No. 7154).
Project GENESIS Minimizes Ecological Footprint in Europe’s Semiconductor Industry
06/06/2025 | Fraunhofer IPMSA pan-European consortium dedicated to developing sustainable processes and technologies for the semiconductor-manufacturing supply chain announces the launch of the GENESIS project.
Zhen Ding Promotes Digital Transformation and Embraces AI Business Opportunities
06/06/2025 | Zhen Ding TechnologyOn May 27, 2025, General Manager Chen-Fu Chien of Zhen Ding Technology Group was invited to attend the "2025 Two Thousand Forum" held by The CommonWealth Magazine.
IMI Signs Share Purchase Agreement to Sell Its Czech Republic Manufacturing Site
06/06/2025 | IMIIntegrated Micro-Electronics Inc (IMI), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Coöperatief IMI Europe U.A., has signed a share purchase agreement to sell 100% of the shares in IMI Czech Republic (IMI CZ) to KEBODA Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, a subsidiary of Keboda Technology Co., Ltd. (Keboda), a publicly listed company in China.